Prospect Talent Score

Probability of Success

History

2007-08: Tomas Kubalik spent another season in the Plzen club; splitting time between the Czech junior and senior leagues. He was again a top scorer when playing against juniors. Against men he improved his play this season, although was still used sparingly. Kubalik was tied for the tournament lead in goals at the U18 WJC (1A Division), helping the Czech team advance to the top division for 2009.

2008-09: Kubalik skated for the Plzen senior team as an 18-year-old and represented the Czech Republic in the 2009 U20 World Juniors. In 32 regular season games he scored 1 goal with 1 assist and was minus-9 with 64 penalty minutes. Kubalik played in 17 Extraliga playoff games and scored 1 goal, finishing minus-1 with 8 penalty minutes. In six games for the Czech U20 team at the WJC he had 2 assists and was minus-1 with 4 penalty minutes.

2009-10: In his first North American season, Kubalik appeared in 58 games with the Victoriaville Tigres. He scored 33 goals and 42 assists for 75 points. He also chipped in a team-leading 95 PIMs. In 16 playoff games with the Tigres, Kubalik added 4 goals and 10 assists to his point totals. Kubalik had a big tournament for the Czech U20 team at the 2010 World Juniors. He scored 4 goals with 5 assists and was minus-3 with 8 penalty minutes in six games.

2010-11: Kubalik made his NHL debut as a 20-year-old and had two assists in a late-season overtime loss to Washington in the first of four games he would play with the Blue Jackets. Averaging just over 14 minutes of ice time, he was -3 in his brief stint with Columbus. Kubalik led Columbus’ AHL affiliate in goals and points, scoring 24 goals with 29 assists in 76 games. He finished the season with a -7 plus/minus and had 43 PMs for the Falcons, who failed to reach the AHL playoffs.

2011-12: Kubalik fell short of the Jackets’ opening day roster for the second straight year and began the season in Springfield. He didn’t show the same promise he did his rookie season averaging .46 points per game, down from his .69 totals from the year prior. He was an emergency call up when Mark Letestu broke his hand. He scored a goal and set up another before being sent back down to Springfield 15 days later. He finished the year out in Springfield with an unimpressive 23 points in 50 games.

2012-13: Kubalik spent his third pro season in the AHL — opening the season with Columbus AHL affiliate Springfield and then skating in ten games with St. John’s after being acquired by Winnipeg in exchange for forward Spencer Machacek in a March 2013 trade. In 64 AHL games between the two teams he scored 14 goals with 9 assists and was +13 with 60 penalty minutes. The IceCaps missed the playoffs after finishing last in the Atlantic Division. Kubalik was tendered a qualifying offer by the Jets in July 2013 and has signed to play for HC Lev in the KHL in 2013-14.

2013-14: Kubalik returned to the Czech Republic to skate for Lev Prague — struggling to find ice time with the KHL club. After scoring goals in each of the first two games of the season, he had just one more assist through the end of October and did not appear in another game for Lev Praha until the final regular season game in April. Lev finished second to SKA St. Petersburg in the Bobrov Division; advancing to the Gagarin Cup finals and falling to Metallurg Magnitorgorsk in a seven-game final series. Injuries allowed Kubalik to get in the lineup in eight playoff games, including one game in the finals, and he was minus-1 with no points and 4 penalty minutes; averaging 10 minutes of ice time. Lev Prague announced in the summer that it would not be icing a team in the 2014=15 season and Kubalik signed a one-year contract with KalPa in Finland’s Liiga in August 2014.

Talent Analysis

Kubalik is a chippy forward, always in the middle of scrums. He plays with a bit of an edge, but also brings skill. He is not afraid to go to the net and score dirty goals. Kubalik must continue to work on his skating. He owns a good shot. He needs to continue to develop his physical game, and must increase his strength to compete with bigger stronger players.

Future

Kubalik is playing for KalPa Kuopio in Finland's Liiga in 2014-15 and has displayed the playmaking ability that attracted scouts during his junior days. After seeing limited ice time in the KHL last season, he was leading KalPa in assists after 21 games and appears to have gotten his career back on track. Whether that leads to another NHL opportunity or not is uncertain.

Photo: Notre Dame's leading scorer each of the past two seasons, junior forward T.J. Tynan will again be expected to be the driving force behind the Irish offense in 2012-13. (courtesy of Zuma Press/Icon SMI)

The Columbus Blue Jackets had top five picks in two of the last three NHL drafts. As a result there system has a good amount of quality prospects that should be seeing formidable playing time in the future.

Photo: Defenseman Ryan Murray of the WHL's Everett Silvertips was the top pick of the Columbus Blue Jackets at the 2012 NHL Draft, and is now their top prospect (courtesy of Marissa Baecker/Getty Images)

After finishing last in the Central Division the past three seasons, the Columbus Blue Jackets have plenty of top draft picks to begin rebuilding the hockey team.